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CHRIST 
THE  CHURCH 

AND  MAN 


CHRIST,THECHURCH, 

AND  MAN 

«//«  Kssay  on  New  Methods  in  Ecclesiastical 

Studies  &  Worship 

"Voith  some  Remarks  on  A  New  Apologia 

for  Christianity  in  Relation  to  the 

Social  Question. 


By  Hi6  Eminence 

CARDINAL  CAPECELATRO 

Archbishop  of  Capua 


BURNS  iff  GATES  B.  HERDER 

28  Orchard  Street  17  South  Broadway 

London  W.  St  Louis  Mo. 
1909 


Be  renewed  in  the  spirit 
of  your  mind. — St  Paul. 

Behold,  I  make  all  things 
new. — Apoc.  xxi,  5. 


Lttcbworth :  %At  tie  tArdcn  Prets 


THE  CONTENTS 

Christy  the  Church,  and  ^Man: 

The  CMystery  of  Earthly  Existence  13 

The  Davpn  of  a  Nevp  Era  1 8 
Development   of  Moral  and  Doctrinal 

Truth  20 

R  eligion  and  Literature  2  3 

Theological  Studies  28 

The  Need  of  a  Newer  Method  in  Theology  3 1 

The  Larger  Apologetics  33 

Christ,  the  Church,  and  tMan  36 

The  Reading  of  the  Bible  38 

Biblical  Criticism  41 

Liturgical  Worship  43 

Liturgical  Music  46 

The  Music  of  the  Church  5 1 

Sursum  Corda  56 

A  New  Apologia  for  Christianity  in  Relation 
to  the  Social  Question: 

The  Tzco  Camps  61 

Man's  Equality  62 

The  Nature  of  Man  63 

The  Equality  of  Man  a  Righteous  Aim  65 

The  Things  the  RichMan  calls  his  own  67 

The  Charity  of  Christ  69 


lo  THE  CONTENTS 

Christian  ^^Audacity  "  in  Speculation  72 

Catholic  Prelates  and  Social  Reformers  73 

T^he  Rights  of  Man  74 

Christianity^  Capital  and  Labour  75 

Hours  of  Labour  ']6 

The  New  Apologia  77 


THE  ARGUMENT 

ANEW  era  has  already  begun.  This  be- 
loved PontifFcherishes  the  development 
of  this  budding  life  as  his  supreme  intention. 
I  turn  to-day  in  a  special  manner  to  the 
clergy  to  point  out  the  new  path  they  should 
follow  in  their  studies  and  in  the  exercise 
of  Divine  worship  to  promote  the  religious 
and  moral  renewing  of  Christianity. — See 
Chapter  II,  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Era. 


la 


Christ,  the  Church, 
and  Man 

I 

The  Mystery  of  Earthly  Existence 

THE  suffering  which  afflicts  man  and 
woman,  old  and  young,  rich  and  poor, 
is,  perhaps,  the  deepest  mystery  of  our  earthly 
existence.  Why  are  body  and  soul  sub- 
je6t  to  the  cruel  pangs  of  suffering  ?  No 
science  has  yet  been,  or  ever  will  be,  able 
to  tell  the  origin  or  ultimate  end  of  suffer- 
ing; and  the  mystery  only  deepens  when 
we  consider  the  radical  opposition  in  which 
itstands  towards  thechief  tendency  of  human 
nature,  which  is  enjoyment.  Nay,  more,  in 
this  very  enjoyment  the  poisonous  seed  of 
suffering  almost  always  lurks. 

Meanwhile,  Christianity,  which  has  not 
destroyed  suffering,  has  at  least  thrown  a 
partial  light  upon  the  mystery.  That  which 
occurs  in  regard  to  all  the  Christian  mys- 
teries occurs  here  also;  they  remain  dark. 


14  CHRIST,  THE  CHURCH,  &  MAN 

but  the  darkness  is  mitigated  by  a  serene 
yet  partial  light;  or,  rather,  they  remain 
dark,  but  rays  of  light  break  from  them  here 
and  there,  which  are  more  clearly  seen  in 
proportion  as  the  eye  of  faith  is  brighter, 
and  the  love  of  God  more  ardent  in  the 
beholder. 

Now  among  the  rays  which  emanate 
from  the  mystery  of  suffering  none  is,  per- 
haps, brighter  than  this:  the  truth  that  suf- 
fering, understood  and  learnt  in  a  Christian 
spirit,  confers  upon  the  soul  one  of  her 
noblest  gifts,  the  gift  of  fortitude.  It  is  a 
truth  as  well  as  a  mystery  that  man,  created 
for  enjoyment,  finds  himself  in  such  con- 
ditions that  his  enjoyment,  albeit  good, 
weakens  him;  while  his  suffering,  accepted 
in  a  Christian  manner,  raises  and  ennobles 
him.  Who  amongst  us  but  has  sometimes 
recognized  with  lively  appreciation  the  self- 
immolation  of  so  many  Christian  mothers, 
who  sacrifice  youth,  beauty,  health  and 
strength  for  their  children?  Or  who  of 
us  fails  to  admire  those  angels  of  charity 
who,  in  our  various  Religious  Houses,  count 
every  hardship  light  for  the  love  of  God 
and  their  neighbour?  But  what  is  the  sac- 


MYSTERY  OF  EXISTENCE     15 

rifice  of  these  mothers,  of  these  virgins,  but 
a  life  of  continual  suffering  freely  chosen? 
We  see  thus,  despite  the  faults  and  defe6ls 
of  her  children,  what  a  wide  and  efficacious 
diffusion  of  life  and  vigour  accrues  to  the 
Church  from  the  sufferings  of  each  indivi- 
dual Christian.  The  Church  is,  indeed,  ever 
great,  noble  and  beautiful  with  the  beauty 
of  Christ;  but  the  moments  in  her  life  that 
are  the  most  produ6tive  of  the  flowers  and 
fruits  of  holiness  are  those  of  pain,  of  sor- 
row or  of  darkness. 

In  these  moments  the  Bride  of  Christ 
repairs  her  losses  and  acquires  new  vigour. 
To  the  cruel  persecutions  of  the  first  cen- 
turies and  to  the  heresies  of  the  following, 
which  threatened  the  destruction  of  doctrinal 
unity,  we  owe  the  glory  of  Christian  mar- 
tyrdom and  the  golden  age  of  the  Fathers 
of  the  Church.  When  barbarian  hordes  fell 
upon  Christian  Europe,  there  arose  the  star 
of  St  Benedi(5l,  and  that  Religious  life  by 
means  or  which  the  Church  overcame  bar- 
barism and  laid  the  foundations  of  a  new 
civilization.  The  intelledtual  and  moral 
darkness  of  the  eleventh  century,  under 
which  the  Church  suffered  so  grievously. 


1 6  CHRIST,  THE  CHURCH,  &  MAN 

was  followed  by  the  glorious  epoch  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  which  gave  us  the  Poor  Man 
of  Assisi,  St  Dominic,  St  Thomas  Aquinas, 
Fra  Angelico,  Dante  and  all  the  marvels, 
unsurpassed  as  yet,  of  Christian  Art.  When, 
later  on,  a  great  moral  corruption  and  the 
Protestant  heresy  brought  anguish  upon 
the  Church  of  God,  that  anguish  proved 
a  seed  of  new  life  and  vigour  to  Catholicity, 
bearing  fruit  in  the  reforms  of  the  Council 
of  Trent,  and  in  that  sixteenth  century, 
which  out-shone,  perhaps,  any  other  in  the 
splendour  of  saintly  lives. 

And  what  are  we  to  say  of  our  own  times? 
In  these  days,  although  consolations  are  not 
wanting  to  her,  the  Church,  nevertheless, 
groans  under  the  weight  of  many  sorrows, 
all  due  to  one  evil  which  has  never,  here- 
tofore, been  so  prevalent  in  Christendom. 
This  is  the  evil  of  misbelief,  and,  at  its 
worst,  a  misbelief  which  is  at  once  sceptical, 
cultured  and  proud. 

Without  doubt  all  misbelief  tends  to 
obscure  and  destroy  the  higher  Christian 
ideals;  but  to-day,  this  misbelief,  because 
it  is  sceptical  and  proud,  degrades  and  viti- 
ates the  soul  in  a  special  manner.  Thus  it 


MYSTERY  OF  EXISTENCE     17 

makes  man's  true  greatness  to  consist  in  the 
love  of  himself  and  of  his  physical  nature, 
which  is  dust  and  returns  to  dust;  while  it 
saddens  us  profoundly  by  its  contempt  of 
the  invisible  world,  of  faith,  of  charity,  of 
prayer  and  of  hope,  of  that  holy  ideal  which 
is  the  true  world,  and  without  which  this 
present  world  is  but  a  vast  necropolis. 

Now  I  hope  that,  under  Providence,  this 
misbelief,  which  is  our  chief  cause  of  sorrow, 
may  become  an  efficacious  meansof  invigora- 
tion  and  renovation  to  the  Christian  Church. 
Indeed,  I  think  I  may  affirm  with  certainty 
that  the  dawn  of  this  day,  or,  rather,  of  this 
new  period  in  the  Church's  life,  is  already 
visible. 


i8 


II 

The  Dawn  of  a  New  Era 

TO  say  nothing  of  the  more  or  less  suc- 
cessful efforts  by  which  Leo  XIII  sought 
to  inaugurate  the  moral  and  religious  reno- 
vation of  Christendom,  we  may  now  say 
that,  with  Pius  X,  a  new  era  has  already 
begun.  This  beloved  Pontiff,  likened  by 
some  to  Benedi6l  XI,  by  others  to  Innocent 
XI,  cherishes  the  development  of  this  new 
life  as  his  supreme  intention.  The  admirable 
kindness  and  gentleness  of  his  disposition, 
balanced  as  it  is  by  an  equal  firmness  of 
principle,  the  example  of  his  humble  life 
as  a  Christian  pastor,  the  various  enaftments 
which  he  has  already  made  for  enforcing 
Church  discipline,  his  many  plans  for  the 
reformation  of  the  clergy,  all  unite  to  show 
that  Jesus  Christ  is  infusing  new  life  into 
the  Church  by  means  of  His  Vicar. 

And  if  so,  why  should  not  I  co-operate, 
according  to  my  poor  ability,  in  the  work 
of  the  Lord?  I  turn  to-day,  in  a  special 
manner,  to  the  clergy  who  have  so  large 


THE  DAWN  OF  A  NEW  ERA  19 

a  share  in  the  moral  and  religious  life  of 
the  Church,  and  I  will  endeavour  to  express 
to  them  a  few  of  my  thoughts,  pointing  out 
the  new  path  they  should  follow  in  their 
studies  and  in  the  exercise  of  divine  wor- 
ship, to  promote  the  religious  and  moral 
renewing  of  Christianity.  I  hope,  at  the 
same  time,  that  my  words,  although  spe- 
cially addressed  to  the  clergy,  may  conduce 
likewise  to  the  profit  of  those  who  live  in 
the  world  and  whom  also  I  love  as  their 
father  and  pastor. 


20 


III 

Development  of  Moral  &^  Dodrinal 
Truth 

THE  Congress  of  Free-Thinkers,  in 
Rome,  intended  to  be  an  insult  to  the 
Pontiff  and  to  the  Church,  proved  in 
reality  a  manifestation  of  the  impotence  of 
human  pride.  Impelled  rather  by  passion 
than  by  any  intelligent  motive,  these  men 
denied  the  most  important  and  fundamen- 
tal truths,  such  as  the  Church,  the  existence 
of  the  supernatural  and  of  God  Himself; 
but  they  w^ere  reduced  to  silence  before 
those  Great  Truths  vv^hich  continue  now, 
as  in  past  ages,  to  hold  the  highest  intel- 
le6ls  and  the  noblest  minds.  Hence,  as  it 
seems  to  me,  that  Congress  may  be  fitly 
termed  a  Congress  for  the  proclamation  of 
ignorance. 

On  the  other  hand,  v^e,  the  millions 
of  believers,  freely  assembled  in  this  city, 
or  rather  this  holy  family  of  the  Church, 
profess  to  know  the  solution  of  these  great 
problems  of  the  human    spirit  by  faith 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  TRUTH  21 

sustained  by  the  influence  of  divine  grace 
and  by  powerful  motives  of  credibility.  It 
is  therefore  at  once  our  consolation  and  our 
glory  that  we  possess  a  vast  treasure  of 
religious  and  moral  truths — a  treasure  both 
old  and  new:  old  in  substance,  but  new  in 
the  varied  forms  which  it  assumes;  and 
new,  according  to  the  order  of  Providence, 
in  the  perpetual  increase  that  flows  from 
an  ever  clearer,  wider  and  more  definite 
knowledge  of  moral  and  religious  truths. 
Thus,  for  example,  who  can  say  that  the 
knowledge  of  such  mysteries  of  our  religion 
as  the  Blessed  Trinity,  or  the  Incarnation, 
is  not  far  deeper,  since  the  days  of  St 
Augustine  and  St  Thomas,  than  it  was  in 
the  first  ages  of  the  Church?  Or  who  will 
assert  that  the  Faithful  of  the  Apostolic 
times  could  have  appreciated,  as  we  do,  the 
light  which  Christian  principles  have  shed 
over  every  department  of  our  civilization? 
Now  the  chief  depositories  of  this  moral 
and  religious  treasure  are  the  Church  and 
the  clergy  who  have  received  it  not  for 
themselves  alone  but  to  distribute  it  freely 
among  the  faithful.  But  it  is  certain  that 
we    shall  never  be  able  to    distribute    it 


22  CHRIST,  THE  CHURCH,  &  MAN 

among  the  masses  unless  we  are  thoroughly 
acquainted  both  with  these  truths  and  with 
the  human  soul  into  which  they  should 
descend  as  life-giving  dew.  Nor  would  it 
be  possible  for  us  to  instruct  the  people 
in  the  truths  of  religion  and  morality  if 
we  ourselves  were  wanting  in  the  thoughts 
and  effe6ls  they  ought  to  produce;  or  in  the 
art  of  enlightening  intelligence  and  arous- 
ing the  will  in  those  whom  we  address: 
things  in  which  the  bulk  of  the  clergy  will 
never  fully  succeed  unless  they  thoroughly 
understand  the  times  in  which  they  live, 
and  the  means  best  adapted  for  the  fruitful 
exercise  of  their  ministry. 


23 


IV 
Religion  and  Literature 

IN  these  days  literary  studies  have  ac- 
quired a  new  and  a  greatly  increased 
importance  in  relation  to  religion  and 
morals.  Errors  afFe6ling  the  religious 
sciences,  moral  or  philosophical,  which 
were  formerly  discussed  on  the  summits  of 
knowledge,  between  a  few  men  of  learning 
and  genius,  have  now,  through  the  dif- 
fusion of  literature,  descended,  so  to  speak, 
into  the  plains  and  valleys.  Errors  which 
concern  the  great  problems  of  human  life 
and  spirit  were  formerly  studied  in  folios, 
whereas  now  they  may  be  found  in  elemen- 
tary manuals,  in  novels,  reviews  and  news- 
papers. We  may  therefore  affirm  that,  here 
in  Italy,  the  number  of  writings  contami- 
nated by  religious  and  moral  error  has 
multiplied  a  hundredfold  within  the  last 
forty  years,  while  the  number  of  readers 
has  increased  in  higher  proportions. 

All  these  works — some  more,  some  less 
— exert  an  immense  and  most  pernicious 


24  CHRIST,  THE  CHURCH,  &  MAN 

efFe6l,  chiefly  in  virtue  of  the  Hterary  form 
in  which  they  are  presented.  They  are 
almost  always  full  of  imagination,  of  wit 
and  grace,  and  of  those  poetic  attra6lions 
which  captivate  the  mind.  The  errors 
which  infeft  them  seldom  appear  at  first 
sight:  sometimes  they  are  concealed  under 
the  garb  of  some  noble  sentiment,  or  they 
excite  passions  which  may  be  good  or  evil 
according  to  circumstances;  but  they  always 
appear  under  false  pretences;  while  the 
thought  or  passion  which  underlies  them, 
as  many  of  you  may  know  by  experience, 
is  enervating  and  destru6live. 

The  vast  diffusion  of  error  and  mischief 
which  has  been  and  is  carried  on  by  means 
of  literature,  by  literature  also  may  be 
stemmed.  But  observe  how  entirely  this 
alters  the  conditions  of  study,  especially  for 
the  clergy.  Literary  studies  can  no  longer 
be,  as  at  one  time,  merely  instruments  of 
culture,  of  distindtion,  or  of  intelledlual  en- 
joyment; they  form  a  true  and  real  aposto- 
late — at  once  a  breakwater  against  the  tor- 
rent of  error,  and,  by  another  image,  a  flood 
of  morality  and  truth.  The  most  eminent 
and  consoling  truths  regarding  the  mysteries 


RELIGION  AND  LITERATURE  25 

of  our  holy  faith,  studied  in  dogmatic  and 
moral  theology,  remain  all  but  fruitless 
where  they  are  not  graced  by  the  light  and 
warmth  of  a  good  literary  style.  Now 
that  our  adversaries  have  become  so  power- 
ful by  means  of  this  formidable  weapon, 
shall  we  remain  idle  or  fight  with  rusty 
arms? 

I  know  that  some  ascribe  the  inefficacy 
of  our  writings  compared  to  those  of  our 
opponents  to  the  fa61:  that  they  appeal  to 
the  baser  passions  of  mankind,  and  thus 
utilize  a  field  upon  which  we  could  not  and 
would  not  enter  on  any  terms;  but  this 
obje6tion  appears  to  me  but  very  partially 
true.  If  our  adversaries  have  on  their  side 
the  love  which  is  sensual  and  degrading,  we 
have  on  ours  the  love  which  is  holy  and 
elevating;  and  amid  the  noise  and  discord 
of  human  passion  the  soul  of  man  still 
remains  responsive  to  the  sweet  inspiration 
of  lofty  and  divine  aff^e6iions.  Religion  and 
morality  alone  can  give  to  literature  the 
light,  beauty,  warmth,  poetry  and  life  that 
make  of  it  a  high  apostolate.  All  depends 
upon  our  possessing  a  deep  knowledge  and 
a  whole-hearted  love  of  the  truths  of  reli- 


26  CHRIST,  THE  CHURCH,  &  MAN 

gion.  The  subject  of  religion  should  touch 
us  profoundly.  Then,  if  talent  and  study- 
are  not  wanting,  we  shall  succeed  in  ac- 
quiring a  good  literary  style;  we  shall 
despise  the  vain  popularity  and  the  false  rhe- 
toric of  former  times  and  become  the  apos- 
tles of  Christ  by  the  way  of  good  literature. 
Let  us  enter  then,  beloved  sons  among  the 
clergy,  and  you  also,  worthy  lay-folk,  into 
the  study  of  literature,  with  the  intention 
of  transforming  it  into  a  holy  apostolate. 
We,  of  the  Italian  clergy,  possess  two  lan- 
guages and  hence  two  literatures.  We  have 
Latin  as  the  language  of  the  Church,  and 
Italian  as  our  native  tongue;  both  languages 
are  endowed  with  a  wealth  of  literature, 
and  are  equally  our  glories.  With  the 
Latin  we  raise  our  souls  to  God  in  prayer, 
and,  thus  addressing  Him  in  worship, 
we  minister  to  the  marvellous  unity  of  the 
Catholic  Church.  Our  Italian  literature 
unites  us  with  our  ancestors,  and  by  it  we 
express  our  thoughts  in  one  of  the  richest 
and  most  beautiful  languages  of  the  world. 
Both  should  be  alike  dear  to  us,  for  both 
are  instruments  of  moral  and  religious  life 
not  to  us  only  but  to  all  the  faithful  of 


RELIGION  AND  LITERATURE  27 

Italy.  In  former  days,  although  ecclesiastical 
authors  have  never  been  wanting,  the  study 
of  Latin  literature  might  perhaps  have 
been  considered  enough  for  our  seminarists. 
Now,  for  the  reasons  already  tasted,  it  is 
not  enough.  The  changed  times  demand, 
at  all  costs,  a  new  course  of  study,  and  our 
priests  and  minor  clergy  ought  to  take  it 
up  in  good  earnest. 


2a 


28 


V 
Theological  Studies 

IN  the  case  of  the  clergy,  the  course  of 
literature  and  philosophy  is  succeeded  by 
those  sacred  studies  which  should  be  to  us 
as  the  life  of  our  life — a  life  of  light  and  love 
— ^lived,  not  so  much  for  ourselves,  as  for 
our  brethren  and  children  in  Christ.  Now, 
the  times  demand  of  us  that  we  should 
undertake  these  studies  with  fresh  fervour, 
and  with  an  amplitude  proportioned  to  the 
vast  increase  of  general  culture.  We  must, 
moreover,  enter  upon  them  from  a  more 
or  less  different  starting-point.  Let  us  pass 
in  rapid  review  the  three  principal  branches. 
Theology,  Apologetics,  and  Biblical  Criti- 
cism. 

Theology,  i.e.,  the  science  which  treats 
of  God  by  means  of  revelation  and  reason, 
was  cultivated  during  many  centuries, 
not  by  the  clergy  alone,  but  also  by  the 
laity.  No  layman  who  had  a  reputation 
for  learning  could  be  ignorant  of  it, 
and    the    more    distinguished   were    pro- 


THEOLOGICAL  STUDIES      29 

foundly  versed  in  sacred  science.  The 
example  of  Dante  Alighieri  may  suffice — 
that  eminent  theologian,  whose  unique 
privilege  it  has  been  to  render  into  poetry 
almost  the  entire  range  of  Christian  theo- 
logy, preserving  it  in  its  integrity,  while 
marvellously  adorning  it. 

In  these  days,  unfortunately,  theology 
has  become  the  exclusive  inheritance  of 
the  clergy.  But,  none  the  less,  the  general 
spread  of  education  requires  that  our  theo- 
logical studies  be  more  accurate,  more  pro- 
found and  of  longer  duration. 

Catholic  seminaries  in  America  and  else- 
where have  greatly  enlarged  their  field  of 
sacred  studies,  and  wherever  possible  have 
prolonged  the  time  allotted  to  them;  and 
what  is  still  more  significant,  the  clergy 
are  unanimously  persuaded  that  the  sacred 
studies  they  had  made  in  the  seminary 
during  their  youth  were  but  a  prepara- 
tion for  those  that  awaited  them  after 
their  reception  of  the  priesthood.  If  we 
desire  to  be  worthy  priests  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  guardians  of  sacred  science, 
as  the  Bible  teaches,  we  should  have 
books   on    sacred    subjects   ever    in    our 


30  CHRIST,  THE  CHURCH,  &  MAN 

hands,  in  order  to  keep  what  has  been 
already  learned  fresh  in  the  memory,  and, 
far  more,  in  order  to  raise  a  new  struc- 
ture of  sacred  study  upon  the  foundations 
already  laid. 


31 


VI 

The  Need  of  a  Newer  Method  in 

Theology 

THEOLOGY,asnowhabituallystudied, 
comprises  three  parts.  The  first  declares 
the  truths  of  religion,  proving  them  by 
the  authority  of  the  Church,  of  the  Bible, 
and  of  tradition;  the  second  refutes  the 
various  heresies  by  which  the  Church  has 
been  opposed  during  her  life's  journey; 
while  the  last,  called  Scholastic  Theology, 
following  the  method  of  Aristotle,  Chris- 
tianized by  Albertus  Magnus  and  St  Tho- 
mas Aquinas,  endeavours  to  reconcile  faith 
and  reason.  Now  it  is  my  opinion  that, 
according  to  a  newer  method,  very  little 
time  should  be  given  to  the  confutation  of 
heretics,  and  not  much  to  Scholasticism, 
especially  in  its  antiquated  forms. 

On  the  other  hand,  what  is  desirable  is  a 
much  wider  and  more  profound  apprehen- 
sion of  religious  truths  and  of  their  proofs. 
The  statement  and  refutation  of  particular 
heresies  belongs  rather  to  the  history  of 


32  CHRIST,  THE  CHURCH,  &  MAN 

dogma,  and  is  nowadays  of  little  or  no  use, 
for  the  reason  that  such  ancient  errors,  as, 
e.g.,  those  of  the  Nestorians,  Eutychians  and 
Pelagians  are  obsolete  and  maintained  by 
none.  Even  those  of  Protestantism,  although 
more  recent,  have  little  vitality,  inasmuch 
as  among  the  most  learned  Protestant  theo- 
logians and  Biblical  critics  some  renounce 
the  greater  part  of  their  characteristic  errors, 
w^hile  the  greater  number  appear  as  mere 
"rationalists."  As  for  the  reconciliation  of 
faith  with  reason,  it  is  indispensable;  but 
the  methods  by  which  it  is  now  to  be 
effected  are  different  from  those  of  the 
Scholastics,  though  the  latter  remain  valu- 
able for  their  depth  and  subtlety. 

It  is  the  first  part  of  theology,  consisting 
as  I  have  said  of  a  clear  and  profound  appre- 
hension of  our  dogmas,  that  is  of  chief  im- 
portance; and  I  should  wish  it  never  to  be 
separated  from  a  strong  moral  sense  and  deep 
piety.  Thus  theology  will  come  to  be  the 
vital  principle  of  our  sermons,  furnishing  the 
preacher  with  thoughts  at  once  profound 
and  well-ordered  with  regard  to  faith,  the 
mysteries  of  religion,  and  Christian  mora- 
lity, without  which  all  preaching  is  in  vain. 


33 


VII 

The  Larger  Apologetics 

ANOTHER  fruitful  branch  of  sacred 
science  is  that  of  Apologetics,  which 
has  acquired  a  great  accession  of  importance, 
similar  to  that  which  it  held  in  the  early 
days  of  the  Church,  days  which  our  own 
in  various  respects  resemble.  At  that  time 
Christians,  not  very  numerous  but  strong 
in  faith  and  charity,  were  surrounded  by  a 
multitude  of  pagans,  and  Apologetics  un- 
questionably flourished;  wehavebut  to  recall 
the  namesof  St  Justin  and  TertuUian.  To-day 
we  live  among  an  unbelieving  and  paganized 
multitude.  We  should  no  longer  aim  at  de- 
fending this  or  that  dogma,  but  rather  the 
dogma  of  all  dogmas,  which  is  Christianity 
itself.  And  whereas  since  the  Christian  era, 
misbelief  has  never  been  so  universal,  so 
deeply  rooted  and  apparently  so  scientific 
as  now,  the  clergy  have  never  had  so  stri6l 
an  obligation  to  defend  the  religion  which 
is  our  most  cherished  possession  by  means 
of  Apologetics  at  once  courageous  and  pro- 
found. 


34  CHRIST,  THE  CHURCH,  &  MAN 

Thanks  to  the  all-loving  providence  of 
God  which  v^atches  over  the  Church,  the 
means  for  the  defence  of  Christianity  and 
the  manifestation  of  its  truths  have  never 
been  as  abundant  as  they  are  now.  The  Abbe 
Migne  has  filled  nineteen  volumes  with  the 
old  evangelical  demonstrations,  and  as  for 
the  new,  there  are  numbers  of  important 
works  in  France,  Germany  and  England, 
some  even  bv  Protestants — for  among  Pro- 
testants  there  are  most  learned  theologians — 
who  treat  the  subjeft,  if  not  from  a  Catholic, 
certainly  from  a  Christian,  point  of  view. 
Nor  are  such  works  wanting  even  in  Italy; 
where,  if  they  have  hitherto  been  less  nume- 
rous, that  lack  may,  perhaps,  be  due  to  the 
fa6l  that  overt  unbelief  is  much  more  recent 
with  us  than  with  some  other  countries. 

In  our  seminaries  the  main  substance  of 
Christian  Apology  is  studied  in  what  is 
called  the  "Traftate  of  the  Truths  of  Reli- 
gion." This  Tra6late  has  to  be  supplemented 
by  solid  studies,  and  that  after  a  good  pre- 
paration of  philosophy.  It  is  true  that  in  this 
work  the  apology  of  Christianity  is  treated 
principally  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
Messianic  prophecies  and  miracles;  while 


THE  LARGER  APOLOGETICS  35 

in  these  days  such  proofs  are  little,  if  at  all, 
regarded,  and  other  proofs,  which  we  shall 
indicate  presently,  have  taken  their  place. 
But,  according  to  the  opinion  of  Cardinal 
Newman,  that  rare  genius,  one  of  the  most 
learned  of  our  modern  apologists,  these 
proofs  will  always  remain  of  supreme  im- 
portance, and  will  continue  to  form  what 
an  eminent  American*  theologian  calls  the 
classical  proof  of  Christianity. 

It  is  too  true  that,  with  some  praise- 
worthy exceptions,  Christians  of  these  days 
evince,  for  the  most  part,  a  spirit  of  aversion 
from  the  supernatural.  Many  are  sceptical 
or  indifferent;  others,  living  amid  distrac- 
tions of  business  or  pleasure,  are  profoundly 
ignorant  of  religious  matters;  hence  the 
proofs  from  miracles  and  prophecy  either 
do  not  reach  them  or  fail  to  be  understood. 
It  is,  therefore,  desirable  that,  without  ne- 
gled;ing  the  "classical"  proofs,  the  clergy 
should  be  thoroughly  acquainted  with,  and 
use  principally,  those  other  proofs  which 
are  more  generally  acceptable  and  therefore 
more  efficacious. 

*The  late  Rev.  J.  B.  Hogan,  Clerical  Studies^  a 
learned  work  full  of  opportune  remarks,  of  which  I 
have  frequently  availed  myself. 


36 


VIII 
Christ,  the  Church,  and  Man 

AMONG  these,  the  three  principal  proofs 
are,  Jesus  Christ  Himself;  the  Church; 
and  Man,  studied  in  the  depth  of  his  spiritual 
nature.  Jesus  Christ  contains  in  Himself 
such  a  wealth  of  ineffable  beauty,  of  light 
and  truth  and  religious  poetry,  that  it  is 
impossible  to  dwell  upon  His  character 
without  being  influenced  by  it.  It  is  impos- 
sible to  conceive  a  higher  morality.  His 
every  word,  His  life.  His  preaching.  His 
miracles  of  mercy.  His  death.  His  boundless 
charity,  are  so  many  proofs  of  our  faith. 

And  what  shall  we  say  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  which  so  wonderfully  reflects  and 
perpetuates  the  life  of  her  Divine  Founder? 
The  glory  of  her  innumerable  saints  and 
martyrs;  her  do6lrine,  ever  elevating,  con- 
soling and  unchangeable,  yet  none  the  less, 
from  age  to  age,  becoming  more  definite, 
wider  and  better  harmonized  with  human 
knowledge ;  her  struggles,  in  which,although 
apparently  conquered,  she  is  either  already 


CHRIST,  THE  CHURCH,  &  MAN  37 

viftorious  or  preparing  future  triumphs; 
her  attainments  in  the  sciences,  in  law,  in 
literature,  in  the  fine  arts  and  in  civilization, 
all  prove  that  this  Society  has  a  mission 
from  God  and  is  informed  by  a  divine  life 
which  can  never  fail  her. 

Finally,  an  attentive  and  unprejudiced 
study  of  the  human  spirit  will  at  once  show 
that  the  Catholic  religion  takes  cogni- 
zance of,  and  wonderfully  elevates,  what- 
ever in  it  is  great  and  noble;  and  that  it 
suffices  alone  to  solve,  though  not  without 
mystery,  all  those  religious  problems  which 
exercise  the  intelligence  and  torment  the 
heart  of  man,  while  it  fully  corresponds  to 
all  our  best  desires  and  hopes.  Therefore, 
let  Christ,  the  Church,  and  Man,  studied 
deeply,  and  purely  loved  by  the  clergy  of 
our  day,  be  upon  their  lips  and  in  their  lives 
a  luminous  and  effectual  apology  for  the 
truth  of  Christianity. 


38 


IX 

The  Reading  of  the  Bible 

TO  these  studies,  carried  through  with 
zeal  and  perseverance,  we  Churchmen 
are  bound  to  add  a  fuller  and  more  intelli- 
gent study  of  the  Bible  than  in  the  past;  for 
it  is  not  merely  a  branch  of  the  great  tree 
of  sacred  knowledge  but  the  very  root  and 
trunk.  No  book  has  been  or  ever  will  be 
comparable,  even  from  a  distance,  with  this 
Book  of  Books.  We  Christians  believe  its 
pages  to  be  instinft  with  a  Divine  inspira- 
tion; and  this  thought  is  precious  to  us, 
because  it  brings  us  nearer  to  God,  the  in- 
finite Truth,  and  makes  us  receive  its  mes- 
sage with  reverent  humility.  Misbelievers, 
albeit  unable  to  rise  to  the  conception  of 
divine  inspiration,  cannot  but  acknowledge 
the  Bible  to  be  a  book  apart,  to  which  both 
heaven  and  earth  have  contributed. 

Meanwhile  we,  sons  of  the  twentieth 
century  (even  ecclesiastics  I  grieve  to  say), 
know  this  book  too  little.  In  proportion  to 
the  fervour  of  believers  of  old  was  the  readi- 


THE  READING  OF  THE  BIBLE  39 

ness  with  which  they  listened  to  the  Bible. 
The  works  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Church 
bear  witness  to  this;  and  in  the  Middle  Ages, 
especially  in  Italy,  there  arose  a  fresh  love 
of  the  Bible  through  the  labours  of  the 
Franciscans  and  Dominicans;  hence  at  that 
time  it  was  in  the  hands  of  almost  all  who 
were  able  to  read.  Unfortunately  during  the 
Pontificate  of  Pius  IV  the  spread  of  Protes- 
tant errors,  partly  due  to  bad  translations 
of  the  Bible  into  the  vernacular,  obliged  the 
Pope  to  restrict  the  reading  of  it.  This  was 
a  real  though  deplorable  necessity,  which 
has  gradually  lessened;  hence  Pope  Bene- 
di6l  XII  first  promoted  Martini's  version, 
then  Leo  XIII  warmly  advocated  the  dif- 
fusion of  the  Gospels  by  the  Society  of  San 
Girolamo,  a  diffusion  which  has  finally 
been  highly  commended  by  Pius  X. 

Meanwhile,  looking  at  our  own  times, 
we  see  that  the  reading  of  the  Bible  ought 
to  increase  a  hundredfold,  whether  by 
reason  of  the  existing  facilities  of  the  Press; 
or  as  an  antidote  to  the  number  of  bad 
books  published;  or  finally,  on  account  of 
the  need  in  which  we  all  stand,  enervated 
as  we  are,  of  bracing  ourselves  with  that 


40  CHRIST,  THE  CHURCH,  &  MAN 

intelledtual  food  of  the  strong  which  is 
found  in  the  Bible.  But  alas!  the  Bible  is 
little  read. 

Nevertheless,  this  great  inspired  Book, 
furnished  with  the  needful  explanations,  is 
a  literary  treasure  of  the  highest  order,  as 
replete  with  beauty  as  with  spiritual  light 
and  piety.  As  regards  literary  beauty,  what 
other  book  presents  such  simplicity,  candour 
and  light  as  the  Bible?  Was  there  ever  a 
book  in  which  the  imagery  has  been  found 
more  striking,  poetical  and  true;  the  senti- 
ments nobler;  or  which  breathes  an  atmo- 
sphere more  sweet  and  refreshing  for  the 
recreation  and  elevation  of  the  soul?  As 
regards  religious  truth,  this  forms,  to  say 
the  least,  its  very  substance;  for,  according 
to  the  Bible,  God,  and  the  religion  which 
proceeds  from  Him,  enter  into  all  the  natur- 
al and  the  supernatural.  God  mysteriously 
governs  both  the  one  and  the  other;  hence 
the  Bible  may  be  called  the  Revelation  of 
Divine  Providence;  and  in  regard  to  piety, 
may  we  not  say  that  the  Bible  is  its  highest, 
purest,  most  life-giving  source? 


41 


X 

Biblical  Criticism 

IT  remains  for  me  to  say  something  about 
the  study  of  that  Biblical  criticism  which 
is  the  object  nowadays  of  so  much  laudable 
effort,  as  well  as  of  so  much  perplexity  in  the 
Church.  I  feel  bound  to  give  at  least  a  few 
words  of  advice  on  the  subiedt  to  the  younger 
clergy. 

Biblical  criticism  is  not  new  in  the 
Church's  history.  It  has,  more  or  less, 
always  existed,  as  may  be  seen  by  the 
study  of  St  Jerome  and  his  time.  It  has, 
nevertheless,  acquired  capital  importance  in 
our  day  through  the  discovery  of  ancient 
manuscripts,  by  the  wider  knowledge  of 
Oriental  languages  and,  above  all,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  new  critical  studies  pursued 
by  men  of  rare  talent  with  admirable  skill 
and  patience.  But  such  studies  are  neces- 
sarily difficult,  intricate  and  often  founded 
on  mere  conjectures;  they  may  produce 
doubt  rather  than  certainty.  Sometimes  also 
they  become  subversive,  and  give  rise  to 

3 


42  CHRIST,  THE  CHURCH,  &  MAN 

grave  and  reasonable  fears  on  the  part  of  the 
faithful.  Up  to  now,  if  I  mistake  not,  well- 
established  conclusions  are  few  and  not  very 
definite.  The  clergy  in  general,  with  the 
exception  of  individuals  possessed  of  talent, 
scholarship,  and  the  requisite  preparation, 
will  do  well  not  to  embark  on  that  perilous 
ocean.  It  seems  to  me  better  to  leave  these 
difficult  studies  alone  than  to  undertake  them 
lightly  and  superficially.  lam  in  hopes,  how- 
ever, that  the  Papal  Commission,  chosen 
for  the  prosecution  of  these  studies,  will 
give  us,  presently,  a  much  needed-manual, 
and  then  we  may  be  perhaps  able  to  adopt 
it  for  our  seminarists,  and  may  see  our  way  a 
little  more  clearly  among  the  diverse  shoals 
besetting  the  way  even  of  Catholic  mariners. 

In  the  meantime,  this  Biblical  criticism 
which  unintentionally  is  so  often  hyper- 
critical should,  I  think,  be  left  in  the  hands 
of  the  few  really  competent,  to  whom,  if 
they  will  allow  me,  I  would  venture,  with  all 
modesty,  to  offer  a  word  of  fatherly  advice. 

In  a  matter  so  intricate,  arduous  and  deli- 
cate, let  us  ever  incline  with  mind  and  heart 
to  the  supreme  authority  of  the  Church  and 
the  Pope;  let  us  remember  that  the  present 


BIBLICAL  CRITICISM         43 

studies  in  Biblical  criticism  have  been  set 
on  foot  by  rationalists  who  start  with  thepre- 
conceived  idea  that  the  supernatural  does  not 
and  ought  not  to  exist.  Now  we  Catholics, 
while  ready  to  imitate  them  in  their  research 
and  in  their  intimate  knowledge  of  lan- 
guages, ought  at  all  costs  to  love  and  adhere 
to  the  supernatural;  for  the  supernatural  is 
essential  to  Christianity,  and  for  Chris- 
tianity we  must  be  ready  to  sacrifice  life 
itself.  Finally,  let  us  reflect  that  in  our  day 
the  passion  for  novelty  is  rampant,  and 
though,  as  Catholics,  we  too  may  love 
novelty,  it  must  be  a  novelty  which  derives 
from  antiquity,  and  respedts  and  perfedts  it. 


34 


44 


XI 

Liturgical  Worship 

AND  now  let  us  turn  for  a  moment 
with  intelligent  appreciation  to  that 
Catholic  worship  which  is  one  of  the 
noblest  manifestations  of  the  Divine  beauty. 
Although  identical  in  substance,  our  Ca- 
tholic worship  has  also  had  its  share  of 
accidental  change  and  progress;  but  amid 
change  and  progress  its  gaze  has  been  ever 
fixed  on  its  origin.  Moreover,  it  has  always 
loved  the  fine  arts,  which,  according  to 
Dante,  have  affinity  with  the  Divine. 
Christianity,  indeed,  went  further,  and  was 
itself  the  creator  of  a  magnificent  art,  which 
has  been  deservedly  called  Christian.  This 
art,  whether  in  poetry,  painting,  architec- 
ture, sculpture,  or  music,  is  partly  ancient 
and  partly  new;  and — as  my  illustrious  and 
lamented  friend  Padre  Marchesi,  O.P.,  re- 
marked— has  undoubtedly  given  adequate 
expression  to  the  mysteries  of  faith,  and 
has  proved  one  of  the  chief  consolations, 
divinely  granted   to  us  for  alleviating  the 


LITURGICAL  WORSHIP       45 

many  sufferings  of  life.  The  Christian 
Church  is  the  principal  meeting-place  of 
these  various  symbols  of  Christian  beauty ;  it 
places  them  in  harmony  together ;  but,  unfor- 
tunately, this  was  not  sufficient  to  preserve 
them  from  partial  corruption ;  and  we 
priests,  who  love  the  fine  arts  chiefly  as  co- 
operating with  our  ministry,  ought  to 
make  it  our  care  to  purify  them  from  their 
imperfe6lions.  This  is  the  new  road  we 
have  to  follow  in  regard  to  public  worship. 
Let  us,  then,  banish  rigorously  from  our 
churches  all  that  is  mean,  vulgar,  ugly  or 
ridiculous,  whatever  is  out  of  harmony 
with  the  dignity  and  sanftity  of  worship. 
Let  us,  in  particular,  strive  zealously  ac- 
cording to  the  invitation,  or  rather  the 
command,  of  our  Holy  Father,  Pius  X,  to 
carry  out  a  reform  of  sacred  music,  which, 
alas,  has  fallen  only  too  low.  We  shall  be 
sure  to  succeed  if  we  return  to  the  first 
pure  sources  of  choral  and  sacred  music. 


46 


XII 

Liturgical  Music 

ANEW  YORK  periodical,  speaking  or 
the  Motu  Propria  of  Pius  X  on  the 
subject  of  sacred  music,  declared  its  impor- 
tance to  be  such  that  all  Christendom  was 
moved  by  it — more  even  than  by  the  publi- 
cation of  the  more  celebrated  Encyclical  of 
Leo  XIII.  This  periodical  w^as  right,  and 
time  will  show  the  great  utility  of  a  papal 
reform  as  yet  but  little  understood. 

Sacred  music  comprises  two  parts;  Greg- 
orian or  Plain  Chant,  and  Polyphony;  let  me 
say  a  few  words  to  you  on  each  of  them.  And, 
first,  what  was  the  origin  of  the  Gregorian 
chant?  Song  is  the  most  spontaneous  expres- 
sion of  strong  emotion ;  and  in  so  much  as  the 
religious  sentiment  of  the  early  Christians 
was  an  enthusiasm  of  faith  and  charity,  they 
sang  spontaneously,  and  sang  the  Divine 
praises  in  the  sacred  words  of  the  liturgy. 
Hence  it  came  to  pass  that  as  the  Church  had, 
from  the  beginning,  a  liturgy  of  her  own, 
she  had  likewise  a  song  peculiar  to  herself, 


LITURGICAL  MUSIC  47 

which  was  afterwards  called  "Gregorian." 
This  chant,  therefore,  was  not  derived  from 
masters  or  schools;  it  was  the  immediate 
outcome  of  intense  religious  feeling.  St 
Ambrose  writes:  "Our  liturgical  chant  is 
the  song  of  nature;  that  which  the  infant 
learns  from  its  mother's  lips,  which  is  sung 
by  youths  and  maidens,  by  the  old  and  by 
the  common  people  when  they  meet  in  the 
House  of  Prayer."  St  Augustiue  also,  in  his 
Confessions,  speaking  of  St  Ambrose  pur- 
sued and  taking  refuge  in  a  church,  says: 
"  The  people,  ready  to  die  with  their  bishop, 
spent  the  night  guarding  the  church  where 
he  had  taken  refuge .  .  .  and,  in  order  that 
they  might  not  be  overcome  with  weariness, 
Ambrose  contrived  to  sing  Psalms  and 
hymns,  after  the  manner  of  the  Orientals, 
and  from  that  time  onwards  the  custom 
continued,  and  has  been  imitated  to-day 
in  all  the  churches  throughout  the  world. 
What  tears  I  shed  when  I  heard  the  sweet 
sound  of  the  hymns  echoing  through  the 
church!  The  psalmody  entered  my  cars; 
the  truth  was  revealed  to  my  heart;  my 
affections  awoke  and  I  wept  tears  of  con- 
solation." 


48  CHRIST,  THE  CHURCH,  &  MAN 

Now  this  song,  so  sweet  and  so  powerful, 
which  from  the  beginning  was  left  some- 
times to  the  clergy  alone  and  sometimes  to 
clergy  and  people  by  turns,  having  flourished 
for  a  long  time,  had  its  period  of  decadence. 
In  the  sixth  century,  however,  it  was  so 
restored  and  added  to  by  St  Gregory  the 
Great  as  to  receive  the  name  of  Gregorian 
chant.  It  was  generally  believed  that  the 
notes  of  the  two  Gregorian  Antiphonaries 
had  been  revealed  to  Gregory  by  the  Holy 
Ghost;  and  such  is  the  beauty  of  these 
melodies  that  Mozart  declared  he  would 
have  gladly  given  all  his  fame  to  have  com- 
posed a  Preface,  and  Cherubini  said  the 
same  of  the  Tantum  ergo. 

It  is  a  pleasing  thought,  therefore,  that 
up  to  the  thirteenth  century  this  same 
chant,  sung  in  unison,  simple  and  melodi- 
ous, maintained  a  vast  influence  not  only 
over  the  religious  and  moral,  but  also  over 
the  civil  life  of  Christianity.  Dante  was 
thinking  of  this  music  when  he  wrote 
that  more  than  a  hundred  spirits  sang  In 
Exitu  Israel  de  Mgypto  from  the  beginning 
to  end  with  one  voice,  and  again  in  the 
twenty-third   canto   of  the   T'aradiso^   he 


LITURGICAL  MUSIC  49 

says  joyfully:  "They  remained  in  my  pre- 
sence singing  the  Regina  cceli  so  sweetly 
that  the  delight  thereof  has  never  left  my 
heart." 

Now,  was  the  liturgical  chant  which 
touched  St  Augustine  to  tears  and  was  the 
delight  of  Dante  the  very  same  which,  until 
yesterday,  we  have  been  accustomed  to  hear 
in  our  churches?  No;  at  first  the  execution 
of  that  kind  of  song  was  excellent,  because 
the  melody  went  sometimes  faster  and  some- 
times slower ;  here  the  voice  died  away  softly, 
there  it  was  raised  according  to  the  meaning 
of  the  words  and  as  faith  and  piety  inspired 
the  singers.  Hence,  up  to  the  middle  of  the 
thirteenth  century  the  liturgical  chant  re- 
sembled a  running  stream,  ever  fresh  and 
beautiful;  but  afterwards,  as  happens  to  all 
human  things,  even  the  noblest  and  most 
beautiful,  it  became  gradually  corrupted. 
There  was  great  negligence  and  corruption, 
both  in  the  transcription  of  the  notes  and  in 
the  execution  of  the  chant  which  has  turned, 
in  our  day,  without  fault  of  the  singers,  but 
in  consequence  of  a  false  tradition,  to  little 
more  than  a  sequence  of  independent  notes, 
like  blows  of  a  hammer.  The  Gregorian 


50  CHRIST,  THE  CHURCH,  &  MAN 

chant  has  ceased  to  appeal  to  the  souls  of 
the  faithful. 

Who,  then,  can  fail  to  applaud  the  adlion 
of  the  Pope,  who,  by  an  authoritative  recall 
of  the  liturgical  chant  to  its  pristine  form, 
aims  at  restoring  to  it  those  religious  attrac- 
tions which  made  it  so  powerful  an  influence 
for  good  in  the  days  of  faith  and  piety? 

Various  celebrated  musical  connoisseurs, 
among  whom  Padre  Amielli  (Cassinese) 
takes  precedence  in  Italy,  have  for  years  been 
turning  their  attention  to  this  obje(5l.  But 
the  Benedictines  of  Solesmes  have  devoted 
themselves,  by  an  elaborate  comparison  of 
over  a  thousand  musical  codices,  not  only 
to  restoring  the  integrity  of  the  texts,  but 
also  to  learning  the  genuine  interpretation 
of  the  once-melodious  Gregorian  chant. 


51 


XIII 
The  Music  of  the  Church 

AFTER  the  year  i,ooo  a.d.  notes  of 
different  value  began  to  be  substituted 
for  those  of  equal  lengths,  cantus  Jirmus^ 
and  thus,  by  little  and  little,  arose  the  sacred 
polyphonic  and  figured  music,  which,  in 
progress  \w  the  thirteenth  century  and  per- 
fefted  in  the  fourteenth,  gave  us  counter- 
point, and  opened  the  way  to  harmony.  This 
music,  sacred  in  its  origin,  became  in  course 
of  time  more  and  more  secularized,  and, 
indeed,  corrupted;  and  in  the  sixteenth 
century  this  corruption  reached  its  lowest 
point. 

The  principal  defe(5ts  were  two:  first, 
that,  through  a  superabundant  artificiality, 
musical  intricacies  and  difficulties  were  so 
multiplied  that  the  words  of  the  text  were 
no  longer  distinguishable;  and  second,  that 
acred  music  was  taken  from  melodies 
which  had  first  served  for  profane  uses, 
simply  by  changing  the  words.  Hence  the 
Cantata  of  a  Mass  would  reproduce  the  gay 


52  CHRIST,  THE  CHURCH,  &  MAN 

melodies  of  popular  songs  and  madrigals, 
sometimes  to  the  point  of  exciting  laughter. 
The  Council  of  Trent,  which  was  distin- 
guished by  its  reforms  in  ecclesiastical  dis- 
cipline, turned  its  attention  to  that  of  sacred 
music;  and,  so  serious  did  the  evil  appear  at 
that  time,  that  many  of  the  Tridentine 
Fathers  desired  to  banish  all  polyphonic 
music  from  the  churches  and  to  return  to 
the  Gregorian  chant  exclusively. 

Accordingly,  in  the  year  i  565,  when  the 
Council  of  Trent  was  over.  Pope  Pius  IV 
deputed  the  Cardinals,  Charles  Borromeo 
and  Vitellozzi,  to  settle  the  reform  of  church 
music  already  decreed  by  the  Council.  The 
question  of  the  abolition  of  polyphonic 
music  was  brought  forward;  St  Charles 
Borromeo,  with  characteristic  severity,  was 
in  favour  of  banishing  it  entirely;  main- 
taining that  there  was  no  possibility  of 
restoring  or  reforming  it;  while  Vitellozzi 
inclined  to  milder  counsels,  in  which  he 
was  supported  by  the  Pope.  Meanwhile 
both  Cardinals  had  a  great  veneration  for 
St  Philip  Neri,  a  devoted  lover  of  sacred 
music,  who  was  convinced  that  it  might 
prove  a  valuable  aid  to  religion,  as  being 


THE  MUSIC  OF  THE  CHURCH  53 

the  most  inspiring  expression  of  prayer. 
Moreover,  they  both  held  Palestrina  in  high 
esteem — the  beloved  disciple  and  penitent 
of  St  Philip.  It  was  decided  consequently 
that  Palestrina  should  write  three  Masses  in 
polyphonic  music  by  way  of  experiment  and 
that  the  fate  of  sacred  music  throughout 
the  world  should  depend  upon  the  result. 

John  Louis  da  Palestrina  wrote  them 
with  trembling  heart,  and  succeeded  be- 
yond all  hopes.  On  June  19,  1565,  having 
heard  the  last  of  the  three  Masses,  the 
austere  Borromeo  was  fully  satisfied;  and 
it  is  related  of  Pius  IV,  that,  on  hearing 
them,  he  said:  "Surely  these  are  the  har- 
monies of  the  new  canticle  which  St  John 
heard  in  heaven,"  quoting  this  couplet  of 
Dante  with  a  slight  variation: 

V  e  una  dolcezza  che  esser  non  pu6  nota 
Se  non  cola,  dove  ii  gioir  s'  insempra  !  * 

Nevertheless  we,  after  four  centuries  and 
more,  have  found  ourselves  in  conditions 
whether  as  bad  as  or  worse  than  those  of  the 
sixteenth  century  before  the  Council  ot 
Trent,  I  will  not  venture  to  say.  You  know 

*  There  is  a  sweetness  which  can  ne'er  be  known 
Save  only  there  where  joy  becomes  eternal. 


54  CHRIST,  THE  CHURCH,  &  MAN 
what  the  music  of  our  churches  has  often 
been;  it  makes  my  heart  sick  to  think  of  it. 
But  perhaps  you  may  not  all  realize  the 
harm  which  results  from  a  profanation  of 
Catholic  worship  become  so  habitual  as  to 
be  little  noticed.  Now,  however,  that  the 
remedy  is  imposed  by  the  supreme  autho- 
rity of  the  Church,  let  us  make  a  point  of 
so  understanding  it  that  we  may  be  able  to 
put  it  in  pra6lice  efficiently. 

The  musical  reform  of  the  sixteenth 
century  was  a  return  to  the  old  which  did 
not  exclude  the  new.  The  polyphonic  and 
figured  song  of  the  Church  is  derived  from 
the  Gregorian  and  should  never  lose  sight 
of  its  origin,  but  be  like  a  good  son  who, 
without  forfeiting  his  individuality,  is  mind- 
ful of  the  noble  traditions  of  bis  house.  Let 
sacred  music  be  free,  by  all  means,  as  be- 
comes all  the  liberal  arts,  but  let  its  freedom 
be  always  restrained  within  the  limits  of 
religion.  The  chief  rules  to  be  observed  in 
regard  to  the  sacred  music  of  our  day, 
whether  ancient  or  modern,  have  been  ad- 
mirably indicated  in  the  Pope  sMotuP ropr to; 
let  us  follow  them  implicitly,  and  Catholic 
worship  will  gain  much  thereby. 


THE  MUSIC  OF  THE  CHURCH  55 

Nor  let  it  be  obje<5led  that  the  people, 
accustomed  to  other  ways,  will  be  alienated 
from  the  Church  or  will  have  no  pleasure 
in  listening  to  the  music  thus  restored.  As 
to  their  alienation  from  the  Church,  is  it 
of  any  avail  for  a  congregation  to  come  to 
church  to  listen  to  a  Gloria  as  they  would 
to  a  love-song  at  the  Opera?  But  is  it  true 
that  the  public  dislike  this  musical  reform? 
I  thinknot.  Without  faith  the  masses  quickly 
become  barbarous  and  unmanageable,  but 
where  faith  exists  they  are,  on  the  contrary, 
like  good  children,  easily  led  in  religious 
matters;  on  two  conditions,  however:  that 
they  be  addressed  in  the  right  way  and  that 
they  feel  themselves  to  be  dear  to  their 
teachers. 


56 


XIV 
Sursum  Corda 

LIFT  up  your  hearts,  then!  The  times 
in  which  we  live  are  exceptionally  diffi- 
cult. We  require  a  clergy  thoroughly  well 
instructed,  and  hope,  by  the  help  of  God, 
to  have  such  throughout  the  whole  Church; 
proficient  in  learning,  ancient  and  modern, 
and,  above  all,  in  that  culture  which  is 
adapted  to  deal  with  the  difficulties  of  mis- 
belief and  is  fed  by  aftive  and  effis6lual 
charity.  Finally,  we  desire  and  hope  to  have 
a  people  profoundly  Catholic,  who,  despis- 
ing superficial  vanities  and  uniting  faith 
with  works,  may,  from  their  exalted  position 
in  the  very  heart  of  the  Church,  make  Italy 
an  example  of  religion  and  civilization  to 
the  world.  Upwards,  then,  ever  upwards 
let  your  hearts  be  raised! 


A  NEW 
APOLOGIA 


On  the  Fourth  Petition  of  the  "  Our 
Father ": 

Q.  Why  do  we  say:  "  Give  us  bread,*' 
and  not  "  Give  me  "? 

A.  We  say :  "  Give  us ' '  instead  of  "  Give 
me  "  to  remind  ourselves  that  all  we  have 
comes  from  God,  and  that  if  He  endows  us 
with  abundance,  He  does  it  that  we  may 
distribute  of  our  superfluity  to  the  needy. 

From  the  Catechismo  Oda^iore  ordered 
for  all  the  Dioceses  of  the  Pro- 
vince of  Rome  by 
Pope  Pius  X. 


6i 


A  New  Apologia  for  Christianity  in 
Relation  to  the  Social  Question 

The  Two  Camps 

THE  Social  Question,  as  it  stands  to-day, 
does  not  differ  from  the  old  question 
of  rich  and  poor,  which  has  always  been 
before  the  world.  But  the  conditions  of 
time  and  of  men  are  changed;  and  it  has 
certainly  a  new  entanglement  of  knots.  It 
takes  the  form  of  a  battle — now  of  thoughts, 
and  now,  again,  of  blows.  The  whole  of  the 
working  classes  fill  one  camp,  and  all  the 
rich  and  leisurely  classes  fill  the  other. 
The  new  movements  of  our  age  have  con- 
tributed to  excite  the  Social  Question. 
Steam  and  electricity,  the  unmeasured 
growth  of  industries,  the  new  ways  whereby 
capital  multiplies  and  is  fruitful,  machinery 
that  redoubles  force  and  motion  and  makes 
the  workman  himself  little  more  than  a 
machine,  the  infinite  products  of  industry, 
the  massing  together  of  thousands  of  men, 

*  From  Cardinal  Catecelatro' s  "  The  Church  and  the  Workman." 


62  A  NEW  APOLOGIA 

women  and  children  in  one  factory — all 
this  has  contributed  to  make  the  question 
formidable.  Grave  moral  causes  have  added 
fuel  to  a  fire  which  may  well  (O  God,  avert 
the  omen!)  end  in  destruction. 

^Mans  'Equality 
Meanwhile,  the  serious  student  of  the 
question  should  perceive  that  it  has  two 
principal  roots.  Since  human  labour,  fol- 
lowing upon  original  sin,  is  always  a  stren- 
uous and  sometimes  a  painful  effort,  those 
who  are  constrained  to  toil  for  mere  exis- 
tence are  discontented  that  others  should 
be  able,  without  labour,  or  at  least  without 
effort,  to  live  with  greater  pleasures  than 
theirs.  The  other  root  lies  in  this:  men 
being  essentially  equal  one  with  another, 
are  uneasy  at  the  thought  of  all  differences 
of  gifts — most  at  the  difference  of  poverty 
and  riches.  That  special  inequality,  albeit 
deriving  almost  invariably  from  moral  and 
physical  differences  between  man  and  man, 
seems  at  the  first  glance  to  be  something 
deliberate,  intentional,  and  artificial.  Thus, 
those  who  toil  cry  out  upon  injustice,  and 
ascribe  the  evil  of  their  condition  now  to 


THE  NATURE  OF  MAN       63 

persons,  now  to  civil  society  in  general, 
now  to  science,  and  now  again  to  religion, 
against  which  they  bring  the  reproach  that 
it  is  powerless  to  destroy  inequalities  that 
are,  in  fact,  by  their  nature,  indestructible. 
When  to  all  this  we  add  the  action  of  not 
a  few  of  the  sophistical  and  proud  in  in- 
flaming popular  fancy  with  the  hope  of  a 
paradise  on  earth  wherein  all  shall  be  rich 
and  happy;  it  follows  that  the  poor  make  a 
grasp  for  this  paradise  at  all  costs,  and  that, 
unable  to  seize  it,  they  rise  in  wrath  against 
the  rich  and  shrink  not  from  conspiracy, 
from  vengeance  nor  from  bloodshed. 

The  Nature  of  Man 
This  is  the  Social  Question,  and  these 
are  its  conditions  in  our  day,  especially  in 
the  north  of  Europe.  But  as  the  several 
States  are  now  all  virtually  much  nearer  to 
each  other  than  they  once  were,  so  any  wind 
of  human  passion  arising  in  one  place  quickly 
breathes  upon  another.  Now  the  first  ques- 
tion that  circulates  is,  can  the  Social  prob- 
lem be  solved,  or  will  it  for  ever  remain 
hard  and  fast  as  it  is  to-day?  To  this  formal 
query  there  is  but  One  who  can  reply,  in- 


64  A  NEW  APOLOGIA 

somuch  as  there  is  but  One  who  knows 
entirely  the  nature  of  man.  This  is  Jesus 
Christ  living  and  speaking  in  His  Church. 
If  we  should  listen  to  the  answers  attempted 
outside  of  Christ  and  of  His  Church,  we 
shall  hear  nothing  but  error,  error  full  ot 
many  and  grievous  perils.  Those  who  are 
called  Socialists  have  conceived  for  them- 
selves a  new  kind  of  human  nature  accord- 
ing to  their  own  fancy;  they  teach  that  by 
the  destruction  of  the  present  social  con- 
ditions, and  by  the  constitution  of  we 
know  not  what  Utopias,  equality  of  wealth 
will  come  to  prevail  in  the  world.  On  the 
other  hand,  almost  the  whole  of  those 
classes  of  the  rich  that  have  not  the  light 
of  the  Gospel  nor  its  fire  ot  charity,  hug 
the  belief  that  the  Social  Question  cannot 
possibly  move  a  step  in  advance  ;  even  as  a 
stone  and  a  plant  will  always  be  as  far 
apart  in  their  nature  as  we  see  them 
now,  so  will  it  be  with  the  rich  and  the 
poor.  Whatever  efforts  may  be  made,  say 
these,  not  only  shall  there  be  perpetually 
in  the  world  capitalists  and  operatives, 
landed  proprietors  and  agricultural  la- 
bourers, poor  and  rich  ;  but  the  difference 


THE  EQUALITY  OF  MAN     65 

between  these  orders  of  men  shall  not  dis- 
appear nor  diminish.  The  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ,  however,  informed  by  Him,  albeit 
she  has  defined  nothing  with  regard  to 
these  questions,  yet  proposes  through  the 
wisest  of  her  teachers  a  doctrine  which 
she  gathers  from  her  profound  knowledge 
of  humanity  and  from  the  history  of  her 
own  existence. 

The  Equality  of  Man  a  Righteous  Aim 
As  it  seems  to  me,  the  Church  teaches 
that  although  inequality  of  possessions, 
answering  to  inequality  of  capacities,  can- 
not be  altogether  destroyed,  yet  it  is  pos- 
sible, it  is  just,  it  is  righteous,  that  step 
by  step  that  inequality  shall  be  lessened, 
through  the  a6tion  of  religion,  of  morality, 
and  of  true  science.  To  what  degree,  care- 
fully feeling  their  way,  men  may  hope,  by 
the  aid  of  Christianity  and  of  a  science 
deriving  from  Christianity,  to  shorten 
these  distances  between  capitalist  and  work- 
ing man,  perhaps  no  human  intellect  can 
pronounce.  But  the  history  of  the  life  of 
the  Church  may  afford  us  light  and  give 
us  hope.  The  difference  between  the  pagan 


66  A  NEW  APOLOGIA 

world  and  the  Christian  as  regards  the 
relations  of  the  possessor  and  the  non- 
possessor  is  an  infinite  difference  ;  he  who 
does  not  perceive  this  is  blind,  whether 
through  passion,  or  through  lack  of  thought, 
or  through  the  defeat  of  his  mental  eye- 
sight. Suffice  it  that  the  labourer  to-day  is 
no  longer  a  slave,  but  is  master  of  himself  ; 
and  that  his  task,  albeit  hard,  and  low  in 
seeming,  has  been  san6lified  by  Christ  the 
Divine  working  man,  whence  it  is  held  in 
honour  by  all  to  whom  Christianity  is  light 
and  life.  Again,  be  it  remembered  that 
labour  of  every  kind  has  become  in  our 
day  the  principal  source  of  wealth ;  that 
equality  of  juridical  rights  has  produced 
facilities  for  each  man  to  better  and  raise 
his  own  condition  ;  that  Christian  charity 
spends  millions  every  year  for  the  poor; 
that  in  States  possessing  Christian  civilisa- 
tion multitudes  of  the  children  of  the  poor 
are  gratuitously  educated ;  that  there  is  a 
refuge  for  perhaps  every  one  of  the  afflic- 
tions of  human  life.  Moreover,  all  we 
who  are  men — rich  or  poor,  landowners 
or  husbandmen,  capitalists  or  operatives, 
civilised  or  barbarous,  learned  or  ignorant 


THE  EQUALITY  OF  MAN     67 

— have  but  one  most  lofty  destiny,  which 
is  the  knowledge,  the  love,  and  the  pos- 
session, after  the  trials  of  this  earthly  life, 
of  the  infinite  truth,  goodness,  and  beauty, 
which  are  God.  If,  then,  we  are  brothers 
by  all  these  bonds,  and  equals,  it  is  most 
manifest  that  Christianity,  which  has  based 
our  life  upon  so  many  equalities,  intends 
the  disappearance,  as  far  as  may  be,  and 
certainly  the  diminution,  of  all  accidental 
differences.  If  any  employer  to-day  has  no 
heart  of  compassion  for  the  working  man, 
it  is  only  because  egoism  and  the  blindness 
of  his  mind  suggest  to  him  that  the  poor 
labourer  is  his  inferior;  but  in  very  truth 
the  poor  man  is  absolutely  his  equal,  and 
often  by  virtue,  by  nobility  of  soul,  and  by 
abundance  of  merits  before  God,  is  infi- 
nitely his  superior. 

The  Things  the  Rich  Man  calls  his  own 
And  what  of  the  riches  and  possessions 
of  man.?  What  is  wealth.?  Whether  gained 
by  heredity  or  achieved  by  intellectual  or 
material  labour,  it  is  a  gift  of  the  God  and 
Lord  of  all.  True,  man,  in  the  sight  of  the 
rest  of  mankind,  is  the  true  owner  of  the 


68  A  NEW  APOLOGIA 

things  that  he  possesses  justly;  and  any 
doctrine  opposed  to  this  is  false  and  pro- 
ductive of  ruin  to  the  peace  of  society.  But 
in  the  sight  of  God,  who  is  an  owner  or  a 
possessor?  What  have  we  that  is  our  own 
and  has  not  been  given  to  us  by  God  ?  If 
intellect,  will,  memory,  imagination,  the 
body,  are  from  God,  and  without  the  per- 
petual creative  power  of  God  would  fall 
back  into  nothingness  ;  if  we  cannot  move 
a  finger  without  the  natural  co-operation 
of  God  the  Creator,  and  cannot  enjoy  the 
light  of  one  good  thought  without  the 
supernatural  help  of  God  the  Redeemer, 
how  should  we  be  masters  before  God  of 
those  riches  which  we  have  received  from 
Him  and  which  are  His  ?  Let  us  remember 
that  God  alone  is  Lord,  God  alone  is  King, 
God  alone  is  the  Creator  of  all  things,  and 
that  we  all  possess  in  Him  one  infinite 
Father  in  whom  we  live,  and  move  and 
have  our  being.  We  receive  from  God  the 
use  of  riches,  and  with  the  use  the  obliga- 
tion of  spending  them  according  to  right- 
eousness and  charity.  It  is  absolutely  false 
and  anti-Christian  to  assert  that  the  rich 
man  is  free  to  spend  according  to  his  whim 


THE  CHARITY  OF  CHRIST      69 

the  things  he  calls  his  own.  A  thousand 
times  no !  Assuredly  he  may  provide  for  his 
own  necessities  in  his  own  condition.  But 
that  which  remains  over  he  owes,  by  the 
express  commandment  of  Jesus  Christ,  to 
the  poor.  And  that  commandment,  well  un- 
derstood, is  equivalent  to  a  whole  system 
of  Christian  public  economy,  or  at  least  is 
the  source  of  such  a  system. 

The  Charity  of  Christ 
Charity  is  the  newest  and  the  noblest 
form  of  love  ever  seen  or  conceived;  the 
newest,  I  say,  because  before  Christ  it  was 
never  fully  known,  and  Christ  first  taught 
it  completely  by  His  work.  His  life,  and 
His  death.  Now  this  new  form  of  loving  is 
to  love  with  a  single  movement  of  the  soul 
the  God  who  is  infinitely  above  us,  and 
men  who  are  our  equals  or  inferiors;  to 
perceive  and  love  God  in  creatures,  and 
creatures  in  God,  the  infinite  beauty  in  its 
created  images,  and  created  images  in  the 
supreme  beauty  they  reflect.  Admirable  are 
the  effects  of  this  Divine  charity  in  the 
Social  Question.  He  who  loves  gives  his 
own  and  gives  himself;  he  who  loves  with 


70  A  NEW  APOLOGIA 

Divine  charity  loves  so  perfectly  that  at 
times  he  gives  all  he  possesses  and  his  very 
life,  so  that  it  is  sv^eet  to  him  to  forget  and 
to  neglect  himself  the  better  to  remember 
and  cherish  others.  Now,  did  the  capitalist 
love  the  labourer  and  the  rich  the  poor 
after  this  Christian  manner,  w^ould  the 
distribution  of  wealth  in  civil  society 
remain  what  it  is  to-day  ?  That  same  charity 
which  has  said  to  the  slave,  "Be  free"  ;  to 
the  sick,  "  I  will  tend  thee  in  thy  home  or 
in  my  refuge"  ;  to  the  ignorant,  "Come 
to  my  side,  and  I  will  teach  thee  aright"  ; 
to  the  poor,  "  Run  to  my  arms,  and  I  will 
succour  thee,  my  brother";  to  the  child, 
"  Come  to  my  heart,  and  I  will  show  thee 
the  way  of  righteousness"  ;  would  not  that 
charity,  I  say,  were  it  indeed  vital  and 
dominant  in  the  heart  of  the  unit,  in  the 
heart  of  Society,  and  in  the  heart  of  the 
State,  greatly  amend  the  condition  of 
the  operative,  of  the  farm  labourer,  of  the 
hind,  of  the  child,  of  the  working  woman, 
of  each  one  who  endures  either  poverty  or 
pain?  And  did  the  capitalist  class  believe 
with  a  lively  faith  that,  for  the  gaining  of 
life  eternal  they  must  needs  practise  a  wide 


THE  CHARITY  OF  CHRIST     71 

distribution  of  their  goods ;  and  did  the 
poor  believe  with  an  equal  faith  that  all 
earthly  inequalities  will  disappear  very 
shortly  in  that  kingdom  of  God  which  is 
verily  their  own  kingdom — would  the  dis- 
tribution of  wealth,  and  the  desire  for  it 
remain  what  they  are  now?  For  its  full 
efficacy  the  Christian  religion  needs  to  be 
held  by  more  than  a  few — by  more  than 
many.  It  needs  to  penetrate  deeply  and 
intimately  into  the  interior  of  civil  society, 
with  all  its  light  and  all  its  vigour.  Now, 
as  far  as  may  be  judged  by  human  percep- 
tion, this  penetration  into  the  structure  of 
society  takes  place  by  degrees,  and,  I 
believe,  always  progressively,  in  spite  of 
interruptions  in  certain  hours  of  darkness 
and  difficulty — or  of  seeming  interrup- 
tions. This  penetrating  influence  resembles 
that  of  the  sun  in  a  fruitful  country.  Even 
as  the  effects  of  the  sun  are  slight  at  the 
break  of  day,  and  increase  hour  by  hour 
until  the  noon;  so  are  the  effects  of 
Christianity.  Its  influence  upon  human 
civilisation  will  grow  day  by  day  through  the 
ages,  which  are  hours  and  fractions  of  hours 
in  the  religious  and  civil  life  of  the  race. 


72  A  NEW  APOLOGIA 

Christian  '■^ Audacity'^  in  Speculation 
I  myself  love  Science  with  all  my  heart, 
and  I  believe  that  it  must  play  its  part  in 
the  solution  of  the  Social  problem — and 
perhaps  even  a  greater  part  than  the  human 
mind  can  foresee  to-day.  There  is  a  science 
that  seeks  solutions  outside  of  God  and  of 
Christianity ;  and  there  is  a  science  that 
seeks  them  with  Christianity  and  with 
God.  Of  the  first  I  shall  not  speak ;  for 
such  science,  I  am  profoundly  convinced, 
has  never  attained  to  a  true  knowledge  of 
man,  is  never  free  from  tendencies  to 
passion  and  pride,  and  ever  seeks  for  light 
where  there  is  nothing  but  death  and 
darkness.  I  speak  of  Christian  science,  a 
science  that  lays  down,  as  the  very  base  and 
foundation  of  human  reasoning,  the  prin- 
ciples of  Christianity,  and  then  hesitates 
not  to  speculate  with  freedom,  with  bold- 
ness, I  will  even  say  with  audacity.  I  am 
daunted  by  the  thought  of  no  flight  of  the 
human  understanding  when  it  is  taken 
from  the  secure  starting-point  of  Christian 
faith ;  and  in  this  I  believe  I  do  but 
follow    the     two     greatest    intellects    of 


CATHOLIC  PRELATES        73 

Christianity — St  Augustine  and  St  Thomas 
Aquinas. 

Catholic  Prelates  and  Social  Reformers 
From  the  time  when  Bishop  von  Kett- 
ler  wrote  upon  the  Social  Question  until 
our  own  day,  a  considerable  number  of 
Bishops,  of  priests,  and  of  laymen  have 
treated  it  in  works  more  or  less  to  the  pur- 
pose. At  the  Congress  summoned,  with  mo- 
tives truly  Christian,  by  the  Emperor  of 
Germany,  a  Catholic  Bishop,  Monsignor 
Kopp,  took  a  leading  part  in  his  own  name 
and  in  the  name  of  Pope  Leo  XIIL  In 
America  Cardinal  Gibbons  is  conspicuous 
for  his  liberal  attitude.  And  in  Europe  I 
know  none  among  Catholic  Socialists  (let 
the  name  be  permitted  me)  braver  than  my 
late  beloved  friend.  Cardinal  Manning,  a 
social  student  fearless  in  speculation,  effec- 
tual in  enterprise.  His  conceptions  were  ex- 
pressed, not  by  means  of  wordy  books,  but 
— after  the  manner  of  great  and  decisive 
intelligences — in  brief,  precise,  and  lumin- 
ous formulae.  Manning,  living  as  he  did  in 
the  midst  of  the  independent  and  tenacious 
English  people,  did  not  hesitate  to  put  him- 


74  A  NEW  APOLOGIA 

self  at  the  head  of  Christian  "Socialism." 
Friend  of  the  people,  because  the  friend  of 
God,  he  went  in  advance  of  contemporary 
philanthropists,  economists,  philosophers, 
in  his  study  of  the  possible  means  for  restor- 
ing the  dignity  and  amending  the  condition 
of  the  poor.  Temperance,  arbitration, 
peace-making,  public  charity,  had  in 
him  an  eloquent,  a  persistent,  a  fearless 
advocate. 

The  Rights  of  Man 
What  is  the  labourer  in  the  sight  of 
Christianity?  What  holy  and  inalienable 
rights  does  it  not  recognize  in  him?  A  right 
to  raise  himself  towards  the  infinite,  a  right 
to  the  intellectual  nourishment  of  religion, 
and  therefore  a  right  to  the  time  necessary 
for  the  worship  of  God.  A  right  to  repose, 
a  right  to  honest  enjoyment.  A  right  to  love 
in  marriage,  and  to  the  life  of  the  home. 
In  woman  it  recognizes  with  her  function 
of  child-bearing  in  Christian  marriage  a 
right  to  time  for  the  nurture  of  her  chil- 
dren. In  children  it  recognizes  a  right  to 
the  supreme  benefit  of  health,  given  them 
by  God,  endangered  by  overmuch  work.  In 


THE  RIGHTS  OF  MAN        75 

young  girls  it  recognizes  a  right  to  such 
moderation  in  their  duties  of  labour  as  may 
assure  them  health  and  strength.  In  all, 
finally,  it  acknowledges  the  immortal  soul, 
with  its  right  to  education,  to  salvation,  to 
the  time  that  these  things  need. 

Christianity^  Capital  and  Labour 
Now,  I  cannot  maintain  that  Christian 
science  is  able  to  harmonize,  by  one  a6t,  all 
these  rights  with  the  inexorable  necessity 
of  labour,  of  commerce,  of  industry;  but 
most  undoubtedly  it  has  the  mission  and  the 
duty  to  proclaim  them,  and  to  assert  solemn- 
ly and  perpetually  their  supremacy  over  all 
free  contra<5ts  between  employer  and  em- 
ployed in  every  class  and  branch  of  labour; 
most  undoubtedly  it  has  the  mission  and 
the  duty  to  make  a  searching  and  penetrat- 
ing study  of  all  those  various  interests  which 
seem  to  be  opposed,  but  which  are  capable 
of  gradual  reconciliation.  Minds  possessed 
of  the  light  of  Christian  principle  must  not 
be  daunted  by  the  difficulties  of  such  recon- 
ciliation between  the  cause  of  public  wealth 
— altogether  the  product  of  labour — and  the 
cause  of  Christian  moral  rights. 


76  A  NEW  APOLOGIA 

Hours  of  Labour 
It  has  been  proved  to  the  satisfaction  of 
Catholic  and  Protestant  alike,  that  rest 
during  one  day  in  seven  does  not  impair 
the  aggregate  productiveness  of  labour;  so 
much  does  the  quality  or  the  quantity  of 
work  done  in  six  days  gain  from  the  pause 
upon  the  seventh.  The  same  appears  to 
result  from  a  just  and  equitable  limitation 
of  the  hours  of  work,  which,  according  to 
Cardinal  Manning,  should  not  exceed  eight 
hours  for  the  most  laborious  and  ten  for 
the  lighter  employments.  Work  protracted 
beyond  these  bounds  does  not  add  propor- 
tionately to  the  productiveness  of  the  lab- 
ouring classes.  And  though  Christian  science 
does  not  stop  at  this  purely  utilitarian  con- 
sideration, it  has  a  proper  regard  to  the 
economic  necessity  of  the  production  of 
wealth;  it  takes  into  consideration  the 
injury  to  health  and  strength  whereby 
excessive  labour  lessens  the  productive 
capacity,  and  the  consequent  loss  to  the 
aggregate  possessions;  it  contemplates  the 
possibility  of  the  ruin  to  be  wrought  by 
the  storm  of  revolution  that  threatens  the 


HOURS  OF  LABOUR  -jj 

world  from  the  fury  of  a  class  brutalized  by 
a  toil  without  measure,  without  pause,  a 
toil  destructive  of  family  love,  of  every  kind 
of  reverence,  destructive  of  the  sweetness 
of  faith  and  worship  and  of  hope  of  a  life 
to  come.  It  is,  too,  certain  that  if  Christian 
morality  and  science  fail  to  afford  them 
aid,  the  operative  classes  will  become 
ever  blinder,  ever  angrier,  ever  more  ve- 
hement against  the  order  of  civilization 
which  they  hold  to  be  the  origin  of  their 
sufferings. 

The  ISIew  Apologia 
God  Almighty  has  so  constituted  the 
Christian  life,  that  in  every  age,  or  rather 
in  every  series  of  ages,  it  appears  with  a 
new  apologia^  due  to  the  new  conditions  of 
the  race.  Now,  in  our  day,  if  I  am  not 
deceived,  this  new  apologia  will  be  the 
product  of  the  Social  Question,  and  pro- 
gress in  that  question  will  most  certainly 
be  made  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  living 
in  His  Church.  To  the  classic  defences  of  the 
past — to  Martyrdom,  to  the  more  perfect 
Sanctity  of  the  Church,  to  the  Doctrine  of 
the  Fathers,  to  the  Monastic  Life,  to  the 


78  A  NEW  APOLOGIA 

overthrow  of  Barbarous  Powers,to  Christian 
Art  and  Literature,  to  the  new  Poetry,  to 
the  Harmony  of  Science  and  Faith,  and  to 
the  new  forms  of  Charity  of  the  last  two 
centuries — to  all  these  will  be  added  this 
fresh  apologia — a  solution  of  the  Social 
Question  by  Catholicism  and  by  the  science 
Catholicism  inspires. 

Alfonso  Card.  Capecelatro. 


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